The Matrix
by Sci-Fifan95
Summary: Sam spent less than five minutes in between the world of the living, and of the dead. In that brief time, The First Primes told him that The Matrix wasn't found but earned. And one other thing Optimus should know. Two ROTF scenes with a slight twist.


**This is just a quick one-shot based off my main story, I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Transformers belong to Hasbro, not me.  
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><p><em>Sam became aware that he could feel his back touching sand, and hear, but not feel, wind blowing past him. He found that strange since Megatron shot him and his vision went black. He cautiously opened his eyes, a dark grey sky was the first thing he saw.<em>

_The clouds above him were in constant motion. At times they didn't even look like clouds to Sam's eyes, but more like water. This gave the sky the appearance of a dark, unending ocean. Looking away from the clouds, Sam took note of the numerous rocks surrounding him and the sun shining on his face. This made it impossible to see anything in one direction._

_"Where am I?...Am I dead?" Sam asked, somehow not feeling alone despite the fact he was the only one there. Sam heard hushed voices in the direction the sun was shining from, a moment later one of them spoke to him. "We have been watching you a long, long time" the voice sounded... old no... ancient, was a better word to describe it. Sam could faintly see six silhouettes walking toward him from behind the glare of the sun, the tallest of the silhouettes blocked the light from the star, letting Sam see them properly._

_They were the Primes Jetfire spoke of. There was no doubt in Sam's mind. The one that blocked the light was well over twice the height of Optimus with a bright silver paintjob, and held an fierce looking staff in his left hand. Sam could see the handle of a sword on his back. The massive being spoke._

_"You fought for Optimus, one of the last of our descendants." The Prime's voice held the same commanding air that Sam had only heard from Optimus. What the Prime said confused Sam so he asked, "Wait... one of your last descendants? Optimus isn't the last?" Sam was hopeful, he failed to bring Optimus back to life so perhaps one of other descendants could kill The Fallen and save earth. Sam looked at the Primes seaching for an answer._

_The first Prime he looked at was slightly shorter than the one in front of the sun. He was painted mostly red with gold runes similar to the ones Optimus had on his face. The Prime said nothing so Sam looked at the next Prime._

_This one had a similar figure as the Arcee triplets, who was a female or 'Femme' as he heard the Autobots call her. This femme Prime was taller than Optimus had been. He guessed her to be about Megatron's height and was painted mostly black with the occasional dash of silver. Like the other Prime she said nothing, and he looked at yet another Prime. Two things stood out about this light grey and black Prime, the first was that he had what Sam believed was a clock on his chest and the second was that he was the shortest of the Primes. He was still the same height as Optimus._

_Sam looked at the second-to-last Prime. This Prime was blue-gold and red. 'Unusual color combination,' Sam thought. He was barely taller than the femme, and held a very intimidating staff that stood a good ten feet over his head. The final Prime Sam looked at was... strange... he seemed out of place._

_ This Prime stood head and shoulders over the last three Primes Sam looked at. Other than a silver mark on either side of his head he was painted completely black. That wasn't what made this Prime strange, it was the wings and wheels on his back and legs that Sam found unusual. Sam gave this last Prime a lingering look and the Prime stared right back with cobalt blue eyes. This was another thing Sam found odd._

_ The first Prime began with a guarded tone. "No Samuel, Optimus is not our last descendant." He then continued with what he was saying before Sam interrupted him. "When you seached for the Matrix Of Leadership, you displayed the courage of a born leader - one worthy our secret." Sam narrowed his eyes in confusion as The Prime leaned down slightly. "The Matrix is not found, but earned. Now go and return to Optimus" the Prime leaned away from Sam and took a step back. Sam closed his eyes waiting to return as the Prime had said... nothing happened and Sam opened his eyes._

_ The Prime who spoke was gone, along with four of the others. The one remaining Prime was the one who seemed out of place to Sam. "Okay, um... I don't really know why we're both just standing here... but the other guy said 'Return to Optimus.' And that would mean I need to leave here... so can you like flick the switch or reset the router or something so I can go back to my crazy life?" Sam asked the Prime in one breath and added silently, 'Now would be nice.'_

_ Much to Sam's annoyance, the Prime seemed amused by his question. "I'm not the one keeping you here Sam. For the record, I will bet money my life is crazier than yours," the Prime's said easily. Sam gave the Prime an incredulous look. "Okay, you can't say your life IS crazier, when you've probably been dead for like thousands of years! And if you're not keeping me here, why is it just the two of us?" Sam gestured around the empty area for emphasis._

_ "Maybe they blew a fuse. I swear Vector does that every Christmas" the Prime said with a joking tone and a slight laugh. Sam widened his eyes in shock as the Prime mentioned Christmas, and realized that the Prime wasn't as... well alien as the other transformers Sam had meet. He seemed almost human. The strange Prime continued this time in a more mysterious tone. "By the way, our term for death is offline... and I never said I was offline." Sam tried to ask the Prime what he meant, but he suddenly awoke as if from a dream and took a deep breath._

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><p>Mikaela had been laying next to him when he woke. She was holding his face in her hands and saying something over and over again. He couldn't hear what she was saying as the Prime's parting words were still echoing in his mind '<em>I never said I was offline.<em>'

Sam shook his head and focused on his girlfriend. "I love you Sam! I love you!" that was what she had been saying. "I love you Mikaela" Sam said weakly, and reached for The Matrix. Not wasting time, Sam went to Optimus' body and with a yell joined The Matrix with his spark. A surge of electricity went through Optimus' body and he opened his eyes. Sam jumped off the revived Prime and took a few steps back.

"Boy, you returned for me" was the first thing Optimus said as he started to get up. The joy Sam felt everyone radiate was short lived. The Fallen suddenly appeared in front of Optimus. His arrival somehow shook the ground hard enough that everyone present fell off their feet. "My Matrix," Sam heard The Fallen say in a voice that sent chills down his spine. Sam looked up at Optimus in time to see The Fallen step on his face and disappear in a flash of light.

"Come on, get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" Sam was afraid and it showed in how fast he was speaking. He heard Ironhide add his own encouragement to Optimus. "Optimus, he's going to the machine! You've gotta stop him! Come on, Optimus!" Sam was yelling now. Sam saw Jetfire limp toward Optimus and mumble something about 'Never doing anything worth doing until now.' The ancient seeker then spoke to Optimus. "Optimus, take my parts and you will have a power you've never known."

Without waiting for a response from the Prime, Jetfire pulled out his own spark. Sam watched as Ratchet and Jolt started transferring Jetfire's parts to Optimus, and when Optimus flew towards the Pyramids he knew The Fallen's days were numbered. Mikaela likely knowing the same thing, hugged him for all she was worth as his parents walked over toward them. He also noticed Bumblebee following close behind. Sam knew that the Autobot would want to know how he came back from the edge of death. He would gladly tell him and the others what happened, but right now he just wanted to to appreciate that he was alive.

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><p><em>Later...<em>

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><p>Optimus Prime stood on the aircraft carrier 'USS Enterprise' as the newly promoted Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox called it. This ship's name apparently held significance to their human allies. The Prime had been standing at the bow of the ship for the last eight breems, deep in thought.<p>

He was not thinking about the three casualties in Ratchet's care. Elita, Arcee and Chromia were in stasis lock but Ratchet said they would make a full recovery. It was his own secret relief that Elita would recover. This news also ended Ironhide's uncharacteristic concern about Chromia. When he questioned his weapon specialist about this, Ironhide immediately changed the subject.

Optimus knew Ironhide and Chromia had always liked each other back on Cybertron and he hoped they would finally admit that to themselves. The reason he was still on the ship's bow was that Sam Witwicky met the first Primes, and according to the boy he was not the last descendant of the Primes. There was more than one other descendant if Sam read their speech correctly.

Sam also told him about the strange Prime he spoke with after the other five disappeared. The description Sam gave him of the mech didn't match any Prime that he knew of. 'Never in the history of the Cybertronian race was there ever a triple-changing Prime' were Ratchet's exact words when Optimus gave Sam's description to the near ancient medic. Optimus' spark was hopeful and welcoming to the idea that soon they might find one of these other descendants, but The Matrix he now carried told him to be careful of the future. Even those he believed incorruptible might not be as they seem.

Optimus looked down at the object in his servos. What once was The Fallen's staff was now a tangled piece of useless metal. With a slight movement Optimus dropped the staff into the ocean beneath his pedes. The Prime started walking toward the part of the ship that was cleared for their use. 'The Fallen is offline, Megatron is in hiding and we are gaining more allies. Whatever event the Matrix is warning of, we will be ready.' Four years later Optimus would find that they were not prepared for everything.

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><p><strong>In case you are wondering, the Prime Sam spoke with is my OC from the main story I'm working on. If you liked<strong> **this one-shot, then go read 'Fate Calls' in the Transformers/Beast wars section. Thank you for reading.**


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